Grading in homeschooling

Grading in homeschooling is done by the teacher-in-charge. In most

of the cases, this means mom! In this situation, grading can get a

bit tricky because it can be a little difficult to grade your own

child. There is no benchmark against which you can evaluate your

child's performance. In most cases, you also have no awareness of

how well other children are doing. So, obviously the traditional

method of grading is perhaps not the best method to follow.

When grading a child undergoing homeschooling, it is more

important to assess whether the child has understood the subject

that is being taught. Inherent in this is the fact that if the

child has not understood something, you will go over it again.

This will work in your child's favor in 2 ways. Firstly, the child

knows that if he or she fails to catch on, the topic will be

repeated till it is mastered. Secondly, the child also knows that

once the topic has been mastered, he or she will get full credit

for his hard work. Getting full reward for the hard work put in is

a great motivational factor, especially for kids.

When assessing your child's abilities, do not allow emotions to

overcrowd your rationale. Do not yield to the cries and tears of

your child if he or she resists certain topics or subjects. If

mastering these skills is necessary, then you as the teacher (and

not as the parent alone) have to go over the topic over and over

till it sinks in. When dealing with tougher concepts, the child

may get restless and may even show frustration or belligerence.

When the child is still young and unable to understand the

importance of his lessons, it is your responsibility to see to it

that the child develops the skill set necessary for future growth.

In case you belong to a state that requires yearly tests, this

will help you to judge your child's ability vis-à-vis his peers.

Even if it is not mandatory, you may want to test your child every

year. These tests will reveal the variations in the child's

learning pattern. It may show up unexpected areas of strength and

hitherto unknown areas of weakness. This enables you to structure

your teaching to cover the areas that are weak, and build upon the

areas that are strong.

In case your state requires a homeschool report card, keep a

record of the yearly development and scores of your child. Include

pertinent areas like punctuality, discipline etc in the report.

You may also need to keep a record of the number of working days

and attendance schedules.

While grading your child, make sure that you use as many external

tests as possible. There are several websites that deal with the

various age groups, and allow free downloading of question papers.

This is an excellent and cost-effective method to assess your

child. Homeschooling, if done in the proper manner, will boost the

child's confidence because he will be studying to satisfy his

natural curiosity. The scores therefore will reflect his true